celebrating, and storing, the humble potato

HOW DID A PLANT FROM THE ANDES turn itself into an international star, and the world’s most-eaten vegetable, with more than 300 million metric tons consumed a year? Celebrate the humble but adaptable potato, Solanum tuberosum, with tips on growing, harvesting, and most of all storing, in case your harvest is in need of a winter home any week now. Oh, and yes, with recipes from my creative culinary colleagues—in a cross-blog recipe swap. Got one to share?

storing potatoes

I COULDN’T SAY IT BETTER THAN the Farm Security Administration did to farmers and would-be farmers in the 1942 slides I borrowed from the Library of Congress (below). Potatoes, perhaps counter-intuitively, need humidity to keep well over the long haul. (Click the first thumbnail, then toggle slide to slide using the arrows by the caption.)

Last year I actually figured out the “right” storage spot at my place, and had my own potatoes right into spring. The hiding place, a closet in my mudroom, was as close as I could come to their ask of high humidity combined with dark and cold (ideally 40 degrees, but ranging from 38 to 45). First I had to cure them in a just slightly warmer place. Need all the potato harvest, curing and storage details?

growing potatoes

THE POTATO WOULDN’T BE the fourth-most-consumed food crop in the world (behind only wheat, corn, and rice) if it weren’t relatively easy to grow. The biggest decision is what you’re going to use to hill them up, as the process of applying more soil or mulch of some kind (I used straw, above) to the rambunctious plants as they get too tall for their own good is called. Some potato-growing basics.

Thanks for all of the great info. We accidentally grew potatoes this year from the slightly under-processed compost we spread on our home garden. I’m hooked and looking forward to the next garden season.

Now that the weather’s turning fall-ish, we turn to potatoes. Here’s a humble and homey dish that sits halfway between late summer and fall.

I love white potatoes. Even more so now that I know they are actually quite nutritious! My Summer Fest post goes over the nutritional benefits–for us and the kids–and how we can get the most out of potatoes’ nutrients. I also share a recipe for my Potato and Chorizo Tacos. Believe it or not, they are healthy, too!

Thanks for another great week. Can’t wait to read what everyone else has been making with potatoes!

First off – loved the video!! As always your post was so informative and your garden is absolutely beautiful – made me hungry just looking at it!! I keep saying that “this week” is my favorite but truth be told they all have been – I really love seeing what everyone chooses to make – great ideas and inspirations!! This week I chose to make Potato and Vegetable Cakes with Cilantro and Ginger Chutney

I am really enjoying Summerfest this year. I wish I’d known about it sooner. Thank you for introducing us to some many wonderful cooking blogs. Your potager sure looks pretty and lush in the photo above, (in spite of such a dry summer) Happy last days of summer…
xo Michaela
And here is a potato recipe to share… not my own, but a fabulous one from Patricia Wells (even beats my Tante’s best… shh)http://www.thegardenerseden.com/?p=13474

@Eszter: Using straw or other mulch material is easier, and people with lots of years of experience doing it tell me it’s just as productive. I keep thinking soil would be better, but I do see to have a lot of potatoes (haven’t pulled them all yet – just what I wanted to eat).

@Cate: Nice to see you. I love the earthy smell of root crops of all kinds, including potatoes when fresh-dug. You are so right!

@Brenda: Spud Days sounds like MY kind of event. I’ll have mine with butter AND cheddar please, but let’s skip the tug-of-war, OK? :)

What timing Margaret! My home town, Shelley, Idaho, is celebrating Spud Days this Saturday. Free baked potato giveaway – with all the toppings of course. Many potato related activities all day. The highlight is when they dig a big pit and mix instant mashed potatoes in a cement mixer and pour into the pit. Then comes the tug-of-war over the pit. Various groups battling it out for bragging rights for the next year. A great small town festival.

Very much enjoy your website and this article. Have you tried growing German Butterball and Yellow Finn potatoes? After a lot of variety testing, these are my favorites. For fun, check out a copy of my book, The Potato Garden: A Grower’s Guide. Out-of-print, but easy to find and cheap on Amazon. It was a 1994 James Beard Nominee. Thanks for all your hard work.

Welcome, Maggie, and I think I probably have that book here somewhere…since I moved upstate fulltime one project I have not tackled is really organizing my very old and very large library of garden books. Now you are providing another catalyst! I do like both the kinds you recommend; agreed. Hope to see you soon again.

My wife recently pulled up her decorative sweet potato vines so she could put some mums in the pots they occupied. To our surprise there was a fair sized potato in one pot. It’s a nice pinkish red color on the outside but pale white on the inside. I thought I might try to start slips from it and grow a few vines in the kitchen this winter. But my wife wonders if we can eat this kind of potato.. As it looks rather strange. Are there any inedible potato varieties?

Welcome, Michael. I have read that it is technically edible but bad-tasting — and then there’s this: it was grown with lots of chemicals at the garden center before you bought it, so that alone is the reason not to take a bite.

I have overwintered these in my basement right in their pots — I let them go dry (the soil I mean) and then when I start watering in spring they start up again. Here’s what Proven Winners (which markets various ornamental sweet potatoes) says to do in winter.

Garden Chores

March 1, 2015

an if-and-when month

BEST MARCH GARDEN ADVICE: Make like a daffodil. Poke your head up and have a look around—but be prepared to abort the mission, perhaps several times, and even get snowed on. Be nimble, ready to act of and when the forces are willing, but be patient, too, especially up North. The March chores.

Share this:

March 9, 2015

when to start seed

WHEN TO START WHAT? My seed calculator tool will help time sowings properly, no matter where you live. Don’t rush. Stout, sturdy seedlings are better than older, leggy ones for transplanting. For perspective: I don’t start tomatoes here in Zone 5B until mid-April.

Share this:

March 11, 2015

water-garden care

MUCK OUT water gardens of fallen debris at the earliest opportunity, using a net. Watch for tadpoles and salamanders and egg masses in every heap. When the weather settles, remove floating de-icers, and get pumps and filters going, following all my spring water-garden tips.

Share this:

March 17, 2015

perennial cutbacks

I CUT DOWN faded ornamental grasses before they sprout anew, and leaves of earliest bloomers like epimediums, or things that emerge fast and would prevent easy cutback, like tall sedums. Cut back evergreen groundcovers that push new leaves soon, including epimedium, hellebores, European ginger.

Share this:

March 20, 2015

peas and spinach?

I SOW PEAS (these are some varieties I love) and spinach around mid-March outdoors, if the soil allows. Some gardeners say to do it when the peepers first peep. I hope I get them in no later than the end of the first week in April, so they don’t bump too hard into summer heat at harvest time.

Share this:

March 25, 2015

pruning, pruning

I’LL FINISH fruit-tree pruning (here’s how), and start on twig willows and dogwoods, and this month or next some clematis, most roses, buddleia, Hydrangea paniculata and more. My pruning FAQ is here. Remember that if you prune early bloomers such as lilacs now, you’ll have fewer spring flowers; maybe wait until just after bloom.